The present invention relates, in general, to an apparatus for sterilizing, pasteurizing, and/or disinfecting pumpable or free flowing medium.
Nothing in the following discussion of the state of the art is to be construed as an admission of prior art.
Austrian Pat. No. AT 399 658 B describes an apparatus of this type including a microwave unit forming a treatment chamber for receiving contaminated medium, and a temperature holding device for maintaining the medium at a desired temperature. A three-way valve is disposed upstream of a medium outlet and downstream of a pump and includes one port connected via a return conduit to the inlet for incoming contaminated medium. Depending on the process stage, either contaminated medium or already pasteurized, disinfected or sterilized medium is intended to flow through the conduit leading downstream of the holding device so that during change of the medium flow from return flow to outflow through appropriate actuation of the three-way valve, contaminated or insufficiently treated medium may reach the outlet.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved apparatus for sterilizing, pasteurizing, and/or disinfecting a pumpable or free flowing medium to obviate prior art shortcomings and to prevent vapor formation and ingress of contaminated medium into the outlet.